Shower footboard

ABSTRACT

The shower footboard is a single piece comprising a plate ( 1 ) the top surface of which has a part of its perimeter flush with the floor, facilitating an access and another part of its perimeter, not designed to be an access, which can be attached to an inwall ( 8 ) The top surface possesses, close to that part of the perimeter of the plate ( 1 ) designed as access at least one narrow oblong opening ( 3 ) communicating with a large collector located under the plate ( 1 ) top surface and which is ending in a recess ( 5 ) where a sewer ( 6 ) is open. A raised wall ( 7 ) is spreading along that part of the plate ( 1 ) perimeter not designed as an access constituting a barrier in order the liquid does not reach a seal arranged in a stepped undercutting ( 11 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention refers to a shower footboard constituted in asingle piece comprising a plate having a top surface provided with partof its perimeter flush with the floor designed as an access and anotherpart of its perimeter which can be attached to an inwall. The topsurface possesses close to that part of the perimeter designed as anaccess, at least one narrow oblong opening which communicates with alarge collector located under said plate top surface said collectorending in a recess in which a sewer is open.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] EP-A-0 774 226 of this applicant discloses a shower footboard ofthis kind in which a stepped undercutting is arranged along the whole ofthe perimetric edge of said plate top surface. The function of saidstepped undercutting is to house a sealing means which in those areas ofthe footboard not attached to an inwall, seals off the intersticebetween tiles or other floor pavement and said plate top surface. Thisseal remains out of reach of the liquid which is spreading on said platetop surface thanks to the fact that said narrow oblong openingcommunicating with said collector located under said plate top surfaceremains interposed.

[0003] On the other hand, another seal is arranged on the steppedundercutting of the areas of the footboard attached to an inwall saidseal sealing off the interstice between the footboard and said inwallwhich typically is filled with a spongy material such as an expandedpolymer. The inwall generally comprises an external covering, such astiles or other covering elements which remain supported on their sideson the external area of the plate top surface so that the seal isarranged between the tiles and the plate. However, this other seal is atsame level as the plate top surface and therefore to the mercy of theliquid which is spreading on it.

[0004] Although above arrangement of the first and second seals locatedon those areas of the footboard respectively flush with the pavement andattached to an inwall secures a footboard good waterproofing it would bepreferable that the second seal is out of reach of the shower liquid.

[0005] The object of this invention is to offer a shower footboard asabove disclosed provided as well on the parts of its perimeter flushwith the floor as on those attached to an inwall with seals protectedfrom continuously contacting the water which is spreading on the plate.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0006] This object is reached according to this invention by providingsaid plate with a pedestal or a raised wall extending along those areasof the perimetric edge of the plate attached to said inwall or which arenot designed as an access to the footboard This raised wall is reachingat least a 2 to 4 cm height above said plate top surface level,constituting a barrier for the liquid which is spreading on it. Theraised wall is ending at its top in an horizontal flat edge and the toplimit of the internal surface of said raised wall is ending at its topby a stepped undercutting Said top edge of the raised wall is designedto receive and support the corresponding edge of the tiles or coveringelements of said inwall and in said stepped undercutting there isarranged and joined a single means for sealing off the intersticebetween said tiles or covering elements and said flat edge of the raisedwall. Obviously, said seal is out of reach of the liquid which isspreading on the plate top surface as it is at a higher level.

[0007] For facilitating water draining from the plate top surface, aswell during the use as after it the shower footboard of this inventioncontributes with two variations. According to the first of them theplate top surface is fully horizontal and is provided with a pluralityof transversal grooves communicated with said narrow oblong opening forentering the draining collector the bottom of said grooves having aslight slope downwards said opening. According to the second variationthe plate has a top surface having a slight slope downwards the narrowoblong opening for entering the draining collector, that is to say,downwards a part of access of the plate perimeter. This slight slope ispreferable ranging from 0.5 to 3%, the most preferred value being about1.5%. In this case, the grooves crossing the plate top surface are alsopresent and their bottoms have at least same slope as the plate or more.The slope of the plate implies which height of the raised wall top edgewith respect to the plate top surface is gradually increasing as it iscloser to the narrow oblong opening connected to the drain collector. Aswell in one case as in the other, these grooves also act as a non-slipelement on the plate surface preventing the possibility that the userslips on it. In order to increase even more the non-slip action othergrooves have been provided crossing the first grooves and forming amesh. The bottom of these second grooves can be horizontal or show aslight slope downwards one or both first contiguous grooves.

[0008] With this arrangement, a shower footboard according to thisinvention, once installed, has available a user supporting plateprovided with a top surface which is flat or slightly tilted downwardsthe oblong opening connected to the drain collector which secures aneffective evacuation of the shower water said plate being fullysurrounded by one or the other seal which is out of the reach of theliquid which is spreading on the plate top surface either because anarrow oblong notch is interposed at the areas not attached to theinwall or access areas or because it is at a higher level at the toplimit of said raised wall, in those other areas attached to an inwall ora limiting screen.

SHORT EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] These and other characteristics and advantages will be betterapparent from following detailed description with reference to thedrawings appended in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a shower footboard according tothis invention;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line II-II ofFIG. 1 with enlarged details;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the shower footboard of FIG. 1once installed, showing mounting arrangements; and

[0013]FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a variation of the showerfootboard of FIG. 1 to 3 once installed, showing details of othermounting variations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLES OF EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the shower footboard of thisinvention is constituted by a single piece comprising a top surfaceprovided with at least one part of its perimeter flush with floor 2 (seealso FIGS. 3 and 4) facilitating an access and another part of itsperimeter, not designed as an access which can be attached to an inwall8 or be delimited by a screen 29 (FIG. 4). Said plate top surfacepossesses close to those parts of its perimeter designed to be anaccess, that is to say which are going to remain free and at floorlevel, a narrow oblong opening 3 communicating with a large collector 4(better shown in the detail on the left of FIG. 2) located under saidplate (1) top surface, said collector 1 ending in a recess 5 in which asewer 6 is open.

[0015] In the example shown in FIG. 1 the shower footboard has agenerally rectangular shape with four rectilinear sides three of whichare designed to be attached to an inwail 8 or closed by a screen 29while the remaining side along the edge of which said narrow oblongopening 3 is extending is designed to remain at least partly free and atfloor level constituting a free access to the footboard plate 1. It mustbe pointed out that many other configurations are possible. For example,it could have two sides designed to be attached to the inwall 8 or onlyone and the other two or three designed to remain free and at floorlevel in which case said narrow oblong opening 3 would extend alongthose two or three last sides. It is obvious that the footboard couldhave other shapes apart from the rectangular, such as for examplepolygonal, circular, semicircular or quarter-circular, among others. Itis also obvious that the narrow oblong opening 3 could be discontinuousprovided that it communicates with a single collector 4.

[0016] Along those areas of the plate 1 perimetric edge designed to beattached to said inwall 8 or closed by a screen 29 (FIG. 4) a preferablyvertical raised wall 7 extends, which raises above the level of saidplate 1 top surface constituting a barrier for the liquid. The raisedwall 7 is ended on the top by a horizontal flat edge 9 and at the toplimit of said wall 7 internal surface adjoining said flat edge 9 astepped undercutting 11 is arranged the functions of which will beexplained below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0017] According to the variation of embodiment illustrated, said plate1 top surface shows a slight slope downwards that part of its perimeterwhere said narrow and oblong opening 3 is located through which theaccess occurs and therefore the height of the horizontal flat edge 9 ofsaid raised wall 7 with respect to the plate 1 top surface levelgradually decreases as said wall 7 is going away from the narrow oblongopening 3 (as it can clearly be seen in FIGS. 3, 4), said height beingat least 2 to 4 cm. A usually suitable height is ranging from 5 to 10cm. On its hand, said plate 1 top surface slight slope is ranging from0.5 to 3%, preferably about 1.5%. This slight slope secures a goodevacuation of the water downwards the narrow oblong opening 3communicated with the drain collector 4 without constituting anyhindrance for, for example, people having a reduced mobility or even inwheelchairs as well during its access as for moving or staying on thefootboard. Said plate 1 top surface comprises grooves 16 the bottom ofwhich has same slope as the plate 1 top surface or more and is suitablefor cooperating in the evacuation of the liquid downwards said narrowoblong opening 3 and therefore downwards the collector 4, recess 5 andsewer 6.

[0018] According to a second variation not shown, the plate top surfaceis horizontal and crossed by a plurality of transversal grooves whichends in the narrow oblong opening. In this case the bottom of saidgrooves is slightly tilted downwards said opening.

[0019] Said grooves 16 in addition cooperate for providing a plate 1 topanti-slip surface. According to an example of embodiment of the showerfootboard of this invention, as it is shown in FIG. 1, said footboardcomprises other grooves 28, crossed by the grooves 16 forming a mesh thebottom of said second grooves 28 being horizontal or slightly tilteddownwards one or both contiguous first grooves 16 so that they increasesaid anti-slip quality of the plate 1 top surface while they draindownwards the grooves 16 or main grooves.

[0020] Advantageously, the dihedral formed by the internal surface ofsaid raised wall 7 with said plate 1 top surface has a rounded internaledge 18 while on the external edge of said part of the plate 1 perimeterwhere the narrow oblong opening 3 is located arranged at floor levelthere exists a second stepped undercutting 12 the functions of which arealso explained below with reference to FIG, 3 and 4.

[0021] Last, the plate 1 is provided on its lower surface withpartitions walls 17 or lugs acting as supporting elements for the plate1 on the base floor where it is to be installed, on said floor also apavement is installed so that the plate 1 top surface and said pavementare flush with each other. For this, the plate 1 thickness isapproximately same as the most usual thickness of the kind of pavementsmost used, that is to say about 55 mm.

[0022] The single piece constituting the shower footboard according tothis invention is typically made molding a polymeric material withadditives, including a foaming agent and fillers. However, it could alsobe made of other materials such as enamelled ceramics or the like.

[0023]FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively show two examples of embodiment of theraised wall 7 of the shower footboard according to this inventionaccording to two different variations of installation which can be seenin their respective cross sectional views corresponding to the twoshower footboards once installed.

[0024] The part on the left of FIG. 3 corresponds to an area of theshower footboard which remains at floor 2 or pavement level while thepart on the right corresponds to a shower footboard area which remainsattached to an inwall 8. The details of the mounting correspond to anorientating example of recommended installation.

[0025] It will be seen that the whole of the footboard rests on the basefloor 19 through the partition walls 17 or supporting lugs, preferablyon an abutment 20, laid on a mortar bed 21. The plate 1 remains attachedto the inwall 8 (right part of. FIG. 3) which in the example illustratedcomprises a brick wall 22 covered with a plaster 23. Preferably, on thefull contour of the shower footboard a layer 24 of insulating materialsuch as expanded polymer is included.

[0026] Now newly with reference to the left part of FIG. 3, tiles 15 orany other floor pavement are laid on a layer of mortar 25 after locatingthe plate 1 at its place so that the edge of the plate 1 top surfacecorresponding to this side remains flush with the top surface of tiles15 or the pavement chosen. It must be pointed out that a seal 14arranged between the floor tiles 15 and the plate 1 remains out of reachof the liquid which is spreading on said plate 1 top surface due to thefact that the narrow oblong opening 3 remains interposed.

[0027] On the right part of FIG. 3, the footboard includes said raisedwall 7 which is spreading along the perimetric edge of the plate 1attached to said inwall 8, said wall 7 raising above said plate 1 topsurface level constituting a barrier for the liquid.

[0028] As stated above, the dihedral formed by the internal face of saidraised wall 7 and said plate 1 top surface has a rounded internal edge18. Said wall 7, acting as a barrier, is ended at the top in anhorizontal flat edge 9 and along the whole of the wall 7 internalsurface top limit where it borders the flat edge 9 a steppedundercutting 11 is arranged. Said flat edge 9 supports related edge ofthe tiles 10 or other elements for covering said inwall 8, and a sealingmeans 13 is arranged embedded and joined to that stepped undercutting 11for the slot or interstice between said tile 10 or covering element andsaid flat edge 9, said seal 13 remaining out of reach of the liquidwhich is spreading on said plate 1 top surface as it is located at ahigher level.

[0029] Advantageously, both seals 13, 14 are made of a material havingfungicide properties.

[0030] With this arrangement, as well the seal 14 arranged on the plate1 area designed as an access, that is to say, free and at floor level(left part of FIG. 3) as the seal 13 of plate 1 area attached to theinwall 8 (right part of FIG. 3) are out of reach of the liquid which isspreading on the plate 1 top surface.

[0031] In the example of embodiment of FIG. 4, the footboard is designedto be installed within an enclosure of screens 29, 30.

[0032] On the left part of FIG. 4, the installation of the footboard onthe floor 2 is identical to that disclosed with reference to the leftpart of FIG. 3. However, here the raised wall 7 of the sides of thefootboard adjoining the part of the plate 1 perimeter where the narrowoblong opening 3 is located is interrupted just at the point of saidopening 3 in order to allow that a screen 30, for example a glassscreen, is installed on the narrow strip 31 separating the opening 3from the seal 14. This screen 30 can close for example part of the sideof the plate 1 where the narrow oblong opening 3 is located leaving agap sufficient for having access to the footboard, said access canadditionally be closed by means for example of a glass door, a slidingscreen or a curtain.

[0033] On the right part of FIG. 4 despite it shows the raised wall 7,the footboard is not attached to any inwall but it is closed on thisside by a screen 29, for example a glass screen with its lower edgeleaned against the external surface of the raised wall 7. This loweredge of the screen 29 rests on the lower branch of a L-shaped profile 32externally leaned against a strip of the screen 29 located close to thelower edge leaned against the external surface of the raided wall 7,covering this strip. In the example shown, said L-shaped profile 32 alsocovers a seal 14 a arranged between the tiles 15 of the floor 2 and theplate 1. However, the main aim of the profile 32 is to visually concealthe joining strip between the screen 29 and the external flank of theraised wall 7 in the event that the screen 29 is transparent. For this,the profile 32 could have other shapes, such as U or I-shaped.

[0034] It is obvious that this mounting of the right part of FIG. 4would also be applicable to the case of the example of embodiment ofFIG. 3 and that the mounting of the right part of FIG. 3 would also beapplicable to the example of embodiment of FIG. 4.

[0035] The Combination of the raised wall 7 with the slightly tiltsurface or grooves of the plate 1 secures a correct evacuation of theshower water as it falls on the plate while it prevents that the watergoes out of the footboard and affects the seals 13, 14, 14 a.

1. Shower footboard, of the kind constituted by a single piececomprising a plate (1) having a top surface provided with at least onepart of its perimeter flush with the floor (2) facilitating an accessand another part of its perimeter, not designed as an access, which canbe attached to an inwall (8) said top surface having close to that partof the plate (1) perimeter designed as an access, at least one narrowoblong opening (3) communicating with a large collector (4) locatedunder said plate (1) top surface, said collector (4) ending in a recess(5) in which a drain outlet (6) is open characterized in that itincludes a raised wall (7) extending along the edge of that part of theplate (1) perimeter not designed as an access, said wall (7) raisingabove the level of said plate (1) top surface to constitute a barrierfor the liquid.
 2. Shower footboard, according to claim 1, characterizedin that said plate (1) top surface shows a slight slope downwards tothat part of the perimeter designed to be an access where said narrowand oblong opening (3) is located.
 3. Shower footboard according toclaim 2, characterized in that said slight slope of the plate (1) topsurface is ranging from 0.5 to 3%.
 4. Shower footboard according toclaim 3, characterized in that said slight slope of the plate (1) topsurface is about 1.5%.
 5. Shower footboard according to claim 1,characterized in that said raised wall (7) is ending in a flathorizontal edge (9) adapted to receive thereon the corresponding edge ofa tile (10) or covering element of said inwall (8).
 6. Shower footboardaccording to claim 5 characterized in that at the junction of the topedge of the internal surface of said wall (7) with said flat edge (9) astepped undercutting (11) is formed in which a sealing means (13) isembedded and joined for sealing the interstice between said tile (10) orcovering element and said flat edge (9) said seal (13) remaining out ofthe reach of the liquid which is spreading on said plate (1) top surfaceas it is at a higher level than the plate (1).
 7. Shower footboardaccording to claim 1, characterized in that at the external edge of saidpart of the plate (1) perimeter where is located the narrow oblongopening (3) arranged at floor level there exists a second steppedundercutting (12) in which a sealing means (14) is arranged, embeddedand joined to it for sealing the interstice between a floor pavement (2)such as a floor tile (15) and said plate (1) top surface said seal (14)remaining out of the reach of the liquid which is spreading on saidplate (1) top surface as said narrow oblong opening (3) is interposed.8. Shower footboard according to claim 6 or 7 characterized in that saidseal (13, 14) is made of a material having fungicide properties. 9.Shower footboard according to claim 1 characterized in that the plate(1) top surface is horizontal and comprises grooves (16) which crosssaid plate (1) top surface towards the narrow oblong opening (3) untilending in it the bottoms of said grooves (16) having a slight slopedownwards said at least one narrow oblong opening (3) suitable forcooperating in the evacuation of the liquid spread on the plate (1). 10.Shower footboard according to claim 2 characterized in that it comprisesgrooves (16) crossing the plate (1) top surface downwards the narrowoblong opening (3) until ending in it the bottoms of said grooves (16)having at least same slope as plate (1) or greater, suitable forcooperating in the evacuation of the liquid spread on the plate (1)downwards said at feast narrow oblong opening (3).
 11. Footboard showeraccording to claim 9 or 10 characterized in that it comprises othergrooves (28) crossing the grooves (16) forming a mesh the bottom of saidsecond grooves (28) being horizontal or slightly tilted towards one orboth the first contiguous grooves (16).
 12. Shower footboard accordingto claim 1 characterized in that the internal surface of said raisedwall (7) is vertical.
 13. Shower footboard according to claim 1characterized in that the dihedral formed by the internal surface ofsaid raised wall (7) and said plate (1) top surface has a roundedinternal edge (18).
 14. Shower footboard according to claim 1characterized in that said plate (1) is provided at its lower surfacewith partition walls (17) or lugs determining a support for the plate(1) on a bottom floor (19).
 15. Shower footboard according to claim 7characterized in that the raised wall (7) on the sides of the footboardadjoining the part of the perimeter of the plate (1) where the narrowoblong opening (3) is located is interrupted at the point of saidopening (3) in order to allow that a screen (30) is installed on anarrow strip (31) separating the opening (3) from said second steppedundercutting (12) in which said sealing means (14) is located. 16.Shower footboard according to claim 1 characterized in that it includesan L, U or I-shaped cross section profile (32) externally leaned againsta strip close to the lower edge of a screen (29) leaned against theexternal surface of a part of the raised wall (7) not joined to aninwall, covering said strip.
 17. Shower footboard according to claim 1characterized in that it is made through molding a polymeric materialwith additives including a foaming agent and with fillers.